Non-Mario Kart Racers I Love

With the recent announcements of both Mario Kart 9 and Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, I've gotten into a bit of a kart racer mood lately. I've only ever talked about Mario Kart on here though, so I thought I might as well delve into some of the non-Mario kart racers I also happen to really like:

Kirby Air Ride: I've already talked about Kirby Air Ride so I'll be quick here. This game absolutely rules. Despite my initial skepticism towards its one button control scheme, Air Ride manages to wring out a deceptive amount of depth with its satisfying break-drift system, variety of copy abilities, vastly unique vehicle designs, and abundance of shortcuts. The three major modes are each fun in their own ways, though the brilliant City Trial is the obvious standout, and the fleshed-out and influential achievement system has kept me playing for hours. Being developed by the Melee team also means Kirby Air Ride is stylish as hell, with slick menu design, a surreal GCN-ass visual style, and a gorgeous orchestral score. Despite or maybe because of its quirks, Kirby Air Ride is a wonderfully addictive experience that stands out from every other kart racer in its own unique way. It's one of my favorite games in the genre and one of my favorite Kirby games.

Crash Team Racing: As far as I'm concerned, I hold Crash Team Racing up right alongside Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Kirby Air Ride as the holy trinity of kart racers. In terms of pure mechanical depth, CTR is still unparalleled, with its iconic drift system and fleshed-out hopping. But on top of that, the track design is absolutely stellar. Complex, memorable, and filled to the brim with potential shortcuts just waiting to be discovered. It's a technical juggernaut, showing Naughty Dog's mastery of the PS1 with its clean visuals and silky smooth control, and it even packs it a massive adventure mode that stands out as one of the best campaigns in a kart racer. Crash Team Racing was easily the best kart racer of the fifth gen, but it still holds up as one of my favorites overall. Nitro Fueled was solid too, but the microtransactions and live service elements mean I'd rather stick with the original.

Diddy Kong Racing: Diddy Kong Racing is another really solid kart racer of the time. While I think CTR has it beat in terms of control and track design, DKR still brings a lot of great ideas to the table like its satisfying zipper mechanic, its color-coded item balloons that lends the game some extra strategy, and of course the vehicle transformations. The adventure mode is also quite solid, with a more fleshed-out overworld and a bunch of collectibles and side content as you'd probably expect from Rare. Top it off with a character roster that marked the debut of Banjo and Conker, along with a great soundtrack by David Wise, and you get a great kart racer that's obviously beloved for a very good reason.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed: Sonic has had several racing games of varying levels of quality, but as of right now, the one to beat is still Transformed. It takes the multiple vehicles of DKR and fleshes them out even further with some of the most dynamic and ambitious track design I've ever seen. Each track evolves and shifts over the course of each race, almost telling a story in themselves, which allows them to truly stand out among the genre. The gameplay also feels pretty good with its fair items and fun boosting mechanics, though its heavier arcade-y feel probably won't be for everyone. Transformed also has a solid story mode, lots of cool Sega fanservice, and an incredibly clean presentation which makes for easily one of the best kart racing packages in the last decade or so.

Pac-Man World Rally: Pac-Man World Rally was probably the most surprisingly great kart racer I've ever played. There really is no reason for it to be as good as it is, but it's deceptively fun. World Rally manages to perfectly replicate the loose, fast, and chaotic feel of Double Dash better than any other game at the time, with smooth control, powerful items, and memorable track design. It can be a bit lacking in polish, the Spiny Shell equivalent shows up way too often and a few of the tracks can feel a bit raw, but the game makes up for that in sheer fun and fluidity. I also love the way shortcuts work here, as you need to collect fruit to open them up which adds a neat layer of skill to each race. There's even a dedicated Namco cup with a few fanservice tracks, just to sweeten the deal.

Chocobo Racing: At a time when everyone was trying to jump on the kart racing trend to varying degrees of success, Chocobo Racing stood out by having the high production values of PS1-era Squaresoft backing it up. In the grand scheme of things, Chocobo Racing may not be especially remarkable, but everything about it just exudes polish, with its tight controls, solid track design, clean visuals, and great music. The story mode is also immensely charming as I love the cutesy take on the FF universe that these Chocobo games bring to the table, but the real standout aspect of Chocobo Racing is its brilliant item system which allows you to stack items to increase their power. It's a great package overall, just a shame it... uhh... didn't get a crummy microtransaction-laden sequel or anything...

Konami Krazy Racers: Konami Krazy Racers was a launch title for the GBA that just barely beat out Mario Kart: Super Circuit, though it sadly still seems to have fallen under a radar. It's a real shame too since I think this is probably my favorite mode 7 kart racer of all time. Super Circuit may have stronger track design and more mechanical depth, but Konami Krazy Racers stands out with its uncharacteristically tight and precise steering, great Diddy Kong Racing-esque item system, solid single-player offerings including a sort-of mission mode and a fleshed-out battle mode, and a slew of offbeat Konami fanservice akin to Parodius. You got Twinbee, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Goemon, Pop'n Music, and even some more obscure series like Rakugakids all represented here. It may be on the shorter side, but this is easily one of the most criminally overlooked kart racers of all time.

Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers: And now, here's the most polarizing one. Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers is the sequel to Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart, both of which are mods of the super impressive fangame Sonic Robo Blast 2. Kart already was a really fun, polished, and chaotic kart racer but the lack of CPUs meant I didn't play it much myself. Ring Racers, on the other hand, boasts far more single-player content along with far more mechanical changes that helps it stand out as its own unique beast, albeit for better and for worse.

Here's the thing, Ring Racers makes a pretty bad first impression, and I initially bounced off it hard when it first came out. The game starts by making you do an hour-long tutorial that overwhelms you with explanations on its countless mechanics without really showing how they interact with each other. And once you do finally finish the tutorial, you discover that almost all the tracks, characters, and modes are locked behind hours of single-player gameplay, which feels really tonedeaf considering SRB2 Kart was praised for its easy-to-access online. Since launch, we have gotten a lot of patches that smoothed out some of Ring Racers rougher edges, and there is a password system that lets you jump into the game pretty much immediately, but it doesn't change the fact that Ring Racers is hard to get into.

But when you do give Ring Racers your time, you'll be surprised at how addictive it is. Ring Racers has a variety of fascinating mechanics, from a resource management system that has you using the rings you collect to speed around corners and up hills, to an Advance 2-esque trick system, to various boost types, to multiple item boxes, to a fast fall and spin dash, to a slipstream tether mechanic, and the list goes on. It feels like every mechanic from every prior kart racer has been squeezed together into this single package and while it seems overwhelming at first, it all clicks together surprisingly gracefully once you actually get into the races. There is a really satisfying flow to using rings to maintain your high speed, and the track design is usually good enough to encourage a wide variety of different lines and strategies.

With over 60 characters, 150 tracks, a beefy Grand Prix Mode with 30 cups, Chaos Emeralds and Special Stages, and a flourishing modding community, Ring Racers is also packed to the gills with quality kart racing content. Beyond just the Sonic cast, there's a ton of cool Sega rep ranging from iconic series like Nights and Sakura Wars to sleeper picks like Popful Mail and Treasure, and the soundtrack is filled with picks from some of my favorite soundtracks. I can even play as characters like Vivian or Bomberman thanks to mods which is so cool! And if you do want to unlock everything yourself by working through its massive Kirby Air Ride-inspired achievement table, that playtime will only grow even larger. Ring Racers feels like it's a game by kart racing fanatics for kart racing fanatics, a truly impressive passion project that stands out as one of the most ambitious fan projects I've ever played, to the point where I almost feel guilty playing it for free. It may be over-indulgent and at times hair-pullingly brutal, but when it all clicks, it truly feels like the best the genre has to offer.